Background: The Dedham Public Library has served the community consistently since its inception in 1794 when the First Parish Church organized the Social Library. The town minister kept the books in his house, and they were only issued for circulation on Mondays.

In 1807, the library had 87 volumes, and by 1860, 500 volumes were in circulation. In 1856, Jonathan D. Cobb became the first librarian. The books were moved to the vestry of the First Parish Church, and they were only circulated on Sundays. In 1860, the library became open to all residents.

Since then, 15 full-and part-time employees, including two custodians and four librarians, staff two libraries around town. The town purchased the main library on the corner of Church and Norfolk Streets in 1886, and the Endicott branch was added in 1969.

About the library director: Mary Ann Tricarico joined the Dedham Public Library in 2012. She was previously working in academia.

$1.05 million is the library’s Municipal Appropriation Requirement (MAR) for fiscal year 2015, which is the minimum amount the town can appropriate so that the public library does not lose its certification and ability to participate in regional programs. The library can apply for a waiver if the town goes below this figure, but it would no longer qualify for state aid or state grants, according to Tracy Driscoll, chairman of the Board of Library Trustees.

$1.15 million is the requested budget for fiscal year 2015, which includes funds for two new positions—a professional librarian and staff for IT support.

"We have been told that the town will not be hiring any additional staff this year," Driscoll said Tuesday, Feb. 25. "We hope to build a case, if not this year, then in the near future, that our staffing levels are inadequate. We did a brief presentation to Fin. Comm. members this morning outlining our staffing changes since 2007 and the constant pressure the library is under to staff operating hours."

In 2010, the library eliminated Sunday hours and closed the main library on Saturdays and the Endicott branch on Thursday nights because they do not have enough staff to cover the additional hours.

15 percent of the proposed operating budget will be allocated to library materials after Town Meeting’s vote in May.

Contact: Call 781-751-9284 for the main library and 781-751-9178 for the Endicott branch, or visit library.dedham-ma.gov.

Staff writer Sara Feijo can be reached at 781-433-8336 or sfeijo@wickedlocal.com. Follow @s_fjo on Twitter. Like The Dedham Transcript on Facebook and follow @DedhamTranscrip on Twitter.